The class I'm taking this semester is all about stuttering! It's pretty amazing. I had never heard much or thought much about stuttering, aside from watching a True Life episode on it (which is by far one of my favorite series, I highly recommend it).
The part that really got me was the psychological aspect of stuttering. Experts have referred to stuttering as the "tip of the iceberg" with the majority of the problems lying beneath the surface. Many stutterers suffer from shame, guilt, fear and avoidance. Although we looked at many "quick fix" devices and programs, the real issue is to deal with the fear and avoidance of speaking. To openly stutter and to purposely stutter in public situations will help, especially after going to speech therapy and learning how to stutter smoothly while maintaining eye contact and releasing tension.
Many people think that the cure for stuttering is to just "relax and take a deep breath" but truly, there is much more to it, as I've learned. I really could go on forever about this, but I will stop with a video. This video shows kids talking about their stutters and it is absolutely adorable. So happy these kids shared their experiences for us to watch and learn from.
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